Maybe, but if we were obligate rabbit-carnivores—as in the scenario—I doubt PETA would have as many members.
Humans today kill and eat far smarter animals than rabbits for food—and we are not obligate carnivores.
Different interests have historically contributed to many disagreements. About global warming. About whether cigarettes cause cancer. About energy policy. About the safety of foods and drugs. About gender roles in society. And about whether to go to war.
The different interests arise from genetic differences, from differences in development (phenotypic plasticity) and from differences in circumstances (e.g. accidents of geography).
Something like “whether cigarettes cause cancer” can be reasonably regarded as a fact. But whether you work for a cigarette company or a health insurance company has historically made quite a difference to which side of the argument about the issue you wind up on.
I think that illustrates how differences in optimisation target can “bleed over” into differences about facts.
Re: PETA
Maybe, but if we were obligate rabbit-carnivores—as in the scenario—I doubt PETA would have as many members.
Humans today kill and eat far smarter animals than rabbits for food—and we are not obligate carnivores.
Different interests have historically contributed to many disagreements. About global warming. About whether cigarettes cause cancer. About energy policy. About the safety of foods and drugs. About gender roles in society. And about whether to go to war.
The different interests arise from genetic differences, from differences in development (phenotypic plasticity) and from differences in circumstances (e.g. accidents of geography).
Something like “whether cigarettes cause cancer” can be reasonably regarded as a fact. But whether you work for a cigarette company or a health insurance company has historically made quite a difference to which side of the argument about the issue you wind up on.
I think that illustrates how differences in optimisation target can “bleed over” into differences about facts.